Ch.176EP.41 – Until the Heart Beats (3)

– Tyr, you monster in human form! You madman like a thoughtless child who knows nothing of human hearts and lives only by instinct! I regret it!! Taking in a demon like you as my disciple…!

“…Why am I suddenly remembering this?”

Tyr blinked.

Being quite forgetful, he typically used magic to quickly ‘delete’ useless memories.

Because he judged that emotions left by memories were unnecessary.

Yet now, a memory he was certain he had deleted was surfacing.

The day he killed his master, the day he became Tower Master 400 years ago…

-And the curse-like last words his master had left.

“Hmm, how strange…?”

Tyr scratched his cheek.

This phenomenon was a first for him.

So.

“I must research this!”

He was delighted to have found another research topic.

He would have to resume his studies on the brain.

As Tyr was nodding lightly.

Thud, thud.

“Is the strategy meeting over now?”

He saw two toys approaching him.

The memory that had surfaced was now forgotten as Tyr smiled brightly, focusing on his toys.

He was excited to see how these toys would entertain him.

“You’re not going to crudely use swords or spears again, are you? Sorry, but I’m bored of that. Try something different.”

I’ll wait for you.

Tyr spread his arms wide, telling them to try whatever they wanted.

His attitude was beyond dismissive—deliberately contemptuous.

He didn’t even see them as enemies.

It would be more accurate to say he viewed them as pathetically weak, worthless rats.

Such statements would be insulting and infuriating to any knight, but.

“-Really? Then will you swear to wait for us to prepare?”

“…Huh?”

“Why back out now?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant…”

Despite the ultimate insult, they remained calm.

Contrary to expectations.

Though Tyr was somewhat bewildered,

“Sure, go ahead! As much as you want!”

His confusion quickly vanished, and he gave permission without hesitation.

A dismissive attitude suggesting that whatever these insignificant creatures tried would be futile.

It was arrogant behavior, but he had the power to be arrogant.

So it wasn’t arrogance, but simply stating the obvious.

Knowing that whatever method they used, they couldn’t defeat him, the outcome was already determined.

Tyr urged them to try anything.

Desperately hoping they would entertain him.

“……”

“……”

The two knights showed no reaction to how they were being treated.

But beneath the surface, flames flickered in their eyes.

The hot intensity of anger that could ignite at any moment.

Whoosh!

Their burning aura performed the miracle of melting the snow field and turning even the blizzard into raindrops.

As their body temperatures rose from anger, they.

“Let’s begin.”

“Understood.”

Began what they needed to do.

Stab!

Crack!

…Huh?

Tyr’s expression stiffened.

Because he couldn’t understand what was happening.

“Why, why are you fighting each other?”

Tyr was shocked to see the two men suddenly striking each other.

The knight with teal hair suddenly pulled out the blade attached to his spear and stabbed the large knight in the wing joint, while the large knight struck the teal-haired knight hard in the center of his chest.

‘…Internal conflict?’

But that can’t be right? That’s impossible?

Even the great magician who had lived over 400 years was momentarily speechless, unable to predict this situation.

Whoosh!

“!”

Soon he began to feel something unfamiliar, or rather, a sensation he hadn’t felt since becoming a great magician.

A chill…

* * *

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

The beating of his heart echoed in his ears like a massive drum.

Some strange yet intense flow enveloped his entire body, making the internal resonance even more vivid.

Ihan gritted his teeth as he felt the intense energy transmitted through his wing joint.

It was fierce, no, extremely rough.

An energy that seemed like it would tear his body to shreds.

So this is ki force!

Flare!

This wasn’t just ordinary ki force.

It was the ki force of a knight who was counted among the best in the kingdom, one whom even Ihan couldn’t guarantee victory against.

Moreover, with the presence of the unusual energy called red ki, Ihan’s body trembled uncontrollably.

Because he had to somehow endure this maddening energy that threatened to destroy his insides!

Crack!!

Conversely, Lac was also enduring his own pain.

The sensation of Ihan’s full-power technique forcibly destroying and reassembling Lac’s body was horrific!

It was comparable to the pain of having one’s bones broken and flesh torn, but Lac endured it through sheer willpower.

The pain the two knights felt lasted less than 3 minutes, but those 3 minutes felt like 3 hours of tremendous agony.

They were enduring each other’s compressed power in its raw form, displaying the endurance to withstand the pain of having all their teeth pulled out, second by second.

A time of endurance.

They risked their lives to skip a process that should normally take anywhere from three months to half a year to master gradually, and even if they survived, their lifespans would be shortened.

That’s how much they had wagered.

And having wagered everything, the two knights.

“…I never want to go through such madness again.”

“…I agree.”

Returned from death’s door with pale complexions.

If either had made even the slightest mistake, if their skills had been even slightly inferior, they would have died.

Yet they survived because they were exceptional knights.

One was a knight who had trained his body to madness, acquiring a steel-like physique.

The other was a knight whose talent was unparalleled by anyone.

It was a gamble only they could attempt, and they succeeded.

“How long will this last?”

“About 15 minutes.”

“…That’s short.”

“How long will mine last?”

“20 minutes?”

“……”

“Well, it’s your first time. I’ve done this with my men before, so it’s possible for me.”

“…Suddenly I feel sorry for the disciples training under you.”

They knew their lifespans had been shortened, but they didn’t care at all.

They only looked at the ‘present’ and the ‘now’.

To them.

“…You two, you’re insane?”

Being called insane by a madman…

Tyr gave them a look of astonishment.

Surprise.

For the first time, the constantly giggling madman gave them a serious look with a straight face.

“At first I wondered why you were behaving so strangely… but now I understand! You shared each other’s power, your ‘years’!”

Tyr understood.

As a magician, it was easier for him to understand.

One of the reasons why having a master is important for magicians is because they can take everything when the master dies.

Not simply the master’s property or research achievements, but the master’s ‘magical power’ is the greatest asset a magician can inherit from their master.

Inheriting magical power isn’t simply about enriching one’s own magic; it’s about indirectly imprinting the flow of magic that the master has accumulated throughout their lifetime—in other words, experience.

It’s sharing years and a stepping stone to reach higher realms.

Well, there is the ‘minor drawback’ that the person dies after passing on their magical power.

That’s why most magicians abandoned the practice of passing on their magical power, and if one wanted to inherit magical power,

…they had to kill. With their own hands.

That’s also why Tyr killed his master.

How dare he refuse to pass on his magical power when I wanted it?

Then he must die.

But to think that such an act…

“Knights can do it too…!”

Tyr’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, but the two knights despised him.

“Do you think we’re crazy spell-casters like you?”

“What nonsense.”

“…You’re being too harsh.”

Tyr pouted at their treatment of him, but the two knights just snorted.

As if they found him disgusting.

Moreover.

“What we did isn’t that revolting thing you do, you rotten demon.”

There is a technique called Separated Body Power Transfer.

The principle itself involves a master passing on their internal energy, allowing the disciple to advance to a higher level.

It’s similar to the magical power inheritance Tyr mentioned, but what they did was merely inspired by this technique.

It was…

“What is it!?”

“Experience it yourself if you’re curious.”

“Come on, that’s too harsh.”

“……”

“…Hehe, I’m joking. Go ahead, try anything.”

Tyr spread his arms again, saying he didn’t care what they did, and Ihan and Lac.

“Let’s see how long you keep smiling.”

Gladly decided to show him.

And so.

Whack!

“…Huh?”

…Tyr felt pain the next moment.

“Finally landed a proper hit…”

Ihan expressed great satisfaction at the feeling of his strike.

Hitting not just any spell-caster, but the most rotten one, was enough to relieve his stress.

And he.

Whoosh!

“Let’s hit this crazy monster a thousand more times.”

Had no intention of being satisfied with just one hit.

* * *

…The barrier field and memorized spells didn’t respond?

‘Why?’

Tyr wondered why his barrier field and defensive magic didn’t activate.

It was the first time since becoming a great magician, no, in over four centuries, that this had happened.

If he had just a little time, maybe 10 minutes, he could probably figure out the cause and solve it, but…

Crash!

…the knights showed no intention of waiting.

Boom!

Ihan had always been quick and agile despite his massive frame.

But the speed at which Ihan was charging now was incomparably faster than the day before.

Moving like the wind—his explosive charge was nothing short of incredible, and Ihan had to keep his wits about him as he struggled to control this power that even he couldn’t fully master.

‘Is this ki technique? This is insane!’

Ki technique.

A method that uses the explosive power of ki force within the body as strength.

Ihan finally understood why ki technique was an essential skill for knights and why it was still considered the best.

‘Because it uses this kind of explosive power! Of course it’s strong!’

Maximum tens to hundreds of times.

Depending on how he used this explosive power, his physical abilities could be amplified to that extent.

However, if not controlled properly, it wouldn’t be strange if his body collapsed from this explosive power.

It was nothing short of a precarious tightrope walk, but Ihan was now using the ki technique at full power, regardless of whether he fell off the rope or not.

Not just any ki technique, but the ki technique of Galahad’s finest knight, along with the energy of the Celestial Killing Star.

Normally, it would be impossible to handle, but Ihan’s abnormally tough body made it possible to withstand that power.

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

The Mountain-Breaking Fist, with its power from another dimension, rained down like a storm.

Due to the uncontrollable power, the range of the Mountain-Breaking Fist gradually widened, striking the entire tower.

The magicians watching their battle from afar were simply…

“Aaaagh!”

“S-save me…!”

Thud!

…being reduced to pulp.

And for Tyr, who was taking this head-on.

Whack!

“Again…?”

He was still in shock from having his barrier penetrated and taking another hit.

Drip…

No matter how transcendent his magical power might be, this was not a light blow for a magician with a fragile body to endure.

Any ordinary magician would have died instantly upon being hit.

He was only safe because his body’s durability rivaled that of iron through physical modification.

If he continued to take such hits, even Tyr wouldn’t be unscathed.

‘I must block…’

Tyr was about to utter an incantation to cast a defensive spell directly for the first time in a while, but unfortunately.

“-You rogue, so you were learning something this good.”

Crack!

The hunter targeting him wasn’t alone.

Lac took a stance with two short staves in both hands.

He had separated the spear shaft after removing the blade, and then…

Whoosh!

He struck Tyr with insanely fast swings of the staves in both hands.

Indiscriminate strikes reminiscent of [Kali Arnis].

It wasn’t just fast.

Crack! Crack! Crack…!

The barrier field crumpled.

Every defensive spell cast through memorization was destroyed and shattered as soon as it appeared, and with each swing of Lac’s staves, the red ki grew larger and more intense, eventually radiating heat as if burning.

Flare!

Born with the abnormal energy called the Celestial Killing Star, the knight had never unleashed his energy at full power.

This energy was a double-edged sword that harmed not only others but also its host.

But now it was different.

Diamond-hard.

Moreover, the achievement Ihan had reached through countless efforts was now integrated into his body.

At this moment, when Ihan’s intense technique protected and strengthened Lac’s body, the killing intent of the Celestial Killing Star was not a force threatening and destroying him, but rather like a leashed beast obediently following his commands.

Crash!

Crash!

Crash─!

However, there was a side effect that if he used this energy excessively, the killing intent would invade his brain and transform him into a murderous ghost, but…

‘That’s a concern for later!’

Lac knew that to kill this monster, he too had to become a monster.

Though he had hated this energy all his life, right now he needed this detestable power.

Flare!!

Red Flame.

Lac’s red ki finally became flame.

The flame burning with the Celestial Killing Star as fuel gradually consumed his entire body, and Lac’s body began to turn red.

Becoming a Red Flame Human, Lac’s staves, his strength and speed, and the red flame finally…

Crack!

Melted through the barrier field and shattered it.

“…Ha, this is fun.”

Tyr laughed with delight even as he watched the red flame engulfing him.

The great magician felt a threat to his life for the first time in over four centuries, and this was more exciting than ever before.

‘I see, so this is…!’

‘A death match.’